Drive mechanism



Jan. 14, 1947. w. H. BRADLEY DRIVE MECHANISM Original Filed March 25, 1943 fnqenfor Patented Jan. 14, 1947 DRIVE MECHANISM William H. Bradley,

Incl,

Fort Wayne, Ind., assignor to Horton Manufacturing Company,

a corporation of Indiana Fort Wayne,

Application March 25, 1943, Serial No. 480,433, which is a division of application Serial No.

341,226 June 2 Claims.

The invention relates generally to drive mechanisms and more particularly to a drive mechanism for operating a roll in an ironing machine.

This application is a division of my copending applicat on, Serial No. 480,433, filed March 25. 1943, which latter application was a division of my application, Serial No. 341,220, filed June 19, 1940, now matured into Patent No. 2,338,163, issued January 4, 1944.

The general object of the invention is to provide a novel drive mechanism for an ironing machine of the type having a pair of cooperating ironing elements, one of which is a roll, which drive mechanism connects the drive motor of the machine with the roll in such a manner that the roll may be easily turned forwardly by hand to facilitate placing an article between the two ironing elements.

Another object is to provide a novel drive mechanism in which the connection between the driving and driven members includes a simplified pawl and ratchet, permitting the driven member to be manually turned forwardly and accomplishing the desired drive with a minimum number of parts.

Other objects and advantages will become apparent in the following description taken in com nection with the accompanying drawing, in which:

Figure 1 is an end elevational view of. an ironing machine provided with-a drive mechanism embodying the features of the invention.

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal vertical sectional view of the machine shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view taken on the line 3 3 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a perspective View of a portion of the drive mechanism.

A drive mechanism of the character herein disclosed is such as to provide a gear reduction from a relatively high speed electric motor to a driven shaft operating at a substantially lower speed, and its chief characteristic is to provide a one-way driving connection in the gearing which permits the driven member to be manually rotated in a forward direction when the motor is stopped. A drive mechanism of this character finds particular use in an ironing machine of the household type. Such a machine usually comprises a pair of ironing elements, one of which is a roll. In the use of such machine the operator frequently places an article to be ironed upon the roll and rotates the roll manually to move the article into ironing position. Without a one-way driving connection in the mechanism, the entire drive mechanism, as well as the motor, would have to 19, 1940. Divided plication June 23, 1944, Serial No.

and this apner. On the other hand it is undesirable to per speed between the motor and the rolLthe force rotate the rollwould practhe machine in this manrequired to manually tically prohibit use of mit the roll to be manually rotated too freely.

In the drawing, an ironer is shown for. purposes of illustration, which comprises a base Ii! having a head H at one end thereof. The head I] supports a gear casing 12, and extending from the gear casin is a roll supporting shaft It The roll, indicated at I4, is one of a pair of cooperat ing ironing elements, the other of which in the present instance is shown as a shoe I5 supported for shifting movement toward and from the roll 14 by means of a pivoted arm 16. Such shifting movement of the shoe I5 is effected, in the present instance, by means of a hand lever 11.

In the machine illustrated in the drawing, the

gear casing I2 is positioned within the roll 14 and is supported by the head II. The gear cas ing 12 carries a motor 26 located preferablywithin the head ll. Withinthe gear casing I2 is gearing connecting the motor 20 with the roll shaft 13, and in the operation of the machinethe motor is adapted to operate only during the time when the shoe 1 5 roll M, a switch (not shown) being provided inmotor circuit for stopping themotor as an. incl dent to movement of the shoe l5 away from-the roll. The shaft of the motor 28 extends intothe gear casing I2 and on its inner end is provided with a pinion 19 adapted to drive gearing connected to the roll shaft I3, the latter extending into the casing for such connection.

In the operation of an ironing machine, it is desirable to be able to freely rotate the roll in a forward direction by hand either when the roll is stopped or when it is being driven by the motor. Thus when an article to be ironed is placed upon the roll, it is sometimes more convenient to place the advance edge of the article along the top of the roll where it may be smoothed out by hand before coming in contact with the shoe. It is then frequently desirable to turn the roll by hand forwardly to bring the edge of such article into the space between the roll and the shoe before the shoe is shifted into operative relation, to avoid the chance of the article being wrinkled when first engaged by the shoe. If the article is clamped against the roll by the shoe after it has been moved into the ironing area, it will usually continue to be drawn into such area without chance of wrinkling. While relatively free rotation of the roll is desired as described above, still is in operative relation with the gears 2l slightest touch.

In the present instance such mode of operation of the machine .is permitted since the driving mechanism is (if the'one-way type so thatatheroll may be freely turned forwardly. Since the gear casing I2 is mounted within the roll, it is desirable to provide as compact a gearing or drive mechanism as possible.

flexibility of operation, the less expensive it is to manufacture the mechanism. In'the presentinstance the one-way drive is in the form of a pawl and ratchet device of extremely simple character and having a minimum number of-parts.

Specifically, the gearing'or drive "mechanism for driving the roll includes a driven 'gear 21 mounted on the end of the roll shaft l3:;and"1o-- cated within the gear casing l2. Meshing with theigear 2;! is apinion22 carried on a stub shaft za ournaieu' in the wall'of theigearcasing. Als'o mou'nted on'the'stubshaft His .9, drive gear 24 positioned ina'plane spaced from the, plane'oi the gear- 2! and connected throu'g'hiother speed reoucmgxge rs' with'the motor pinion I 9.

Thai-gear 24- is adapted to b'e'secu'red in driving relation with the pinion 22 by means or 'aipawl an'd ratchet conneotioni'providing the one-way drive. To simplify the c'ohstruotioh,'the pinion 221s substantially longerthan' is necessary merely to -mesh with the ..gear 2 l in order .to provide a portion extending into the space between the and. "24 and adjacent the gear it. Mounted on the adj jcent "face ofthefgear 24 by meansof apivot pin" 26' is a, paw125 which is urged toward" the extending portion "of the jpinion 22 by-means of a torsionspring fl anchored'at its ends to thegear-Mand thepawl 25. The pawl 25 thus engages between the 1 teeth of the pinion 22 to utilize thel-atte'r' as .a 'ratch'et an'd thereby effect a driving relation.

In operation, when the drive'gear-M rotates in the direction indicated by the arrow inFig. "l, the pawl"25 engagesthepiriion and provides a drivingrelation therewith to "effect rotation of the'roll shaft l3 through the gear 2|. W henthe Moreover, the simpler the gearing can be and still accomplish the desired roll shaft,

roll isgrotaited 'forwardly by hand,v the pinio 22 is rotatedinsuch directionias to force thelpawl 25 out oi-the -wayagainst the pressure of ,the spring 21,-ithus permitting the roll to be ireely turned without rotating theuentire-gearing. and the mo- .long enough merely tor. However, the gear ratio between the gear 2! and the pinion 22 as well as the drag of the pawl 25 on the pinion produce suflicient friction to prevent the. rollfrom being-rotated at the slightest touch. Thusythe roll may be manually rotated when desired and to the extent desired but will stop when the hand is removed from the roll.

This obviously assists in placing an article to be ironed in between the roll and the shoe.

The pinion 22 may be manufactured in a length sufficientto provide both meshing with the gear 21 and engagement with the pawl 25 at a very slight'increase in cost over the cost of a pinion to mesh with the ear 2!. The cost of a separate ratchet is thereby eliminated and the number of parts in the drive mechanism 'is consequently reduced. Thus, I have provided a novel drive mechanism including a simplified pawl and ratchet connection permitting rotation of the drivenvpart manuallywhen themotor is stopped.

I claim: I

1. In an ironing machinathe combination of a a driven gear mount'edon said roll shaft, a stub shaft provided with an elongated pinion, a portion of which meshes with said driven .gear,. a drive gear loosely mounted on said stub shaft adjacent said pinion, driving device-carried-bysaid drive gear andarranged .for one-way driving engagement with another portion of said pinion the gear ratio between said pinion and said. driven gear being such, that manual rotation'oij'the roll will cause'relatively fast rotation of the pinion, and the friction. of the latter will tend to quickiystop therotation when the hand is removed from the roll.

2. In an ironing machine, roll driving mechanism comprising a roll shaft, aroll gear rigidly mounted on'sai'd shaft, a pinion meshingwith said irollgearand projecting beyond one face thereof, a drive gear coaxial with said pinion, and a spring-pressed pawl carried by said drive gear and engaging the projecting portion of said pinion to provide a one-way driving connection with said pinion but permitting rotation of the pinion by. manual rotation of the roll shaft, the friction resulting from the rotation of said pinion and the drag of said pawl on'said pinion tendin tostop rotation of the roll when the hand is removed therefrom.

WILLIAM H. BRADLEY.

and a one-way 

